Mexican Artist Paloma Contreras Lomas's Baroque Worlds
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Loading... - Katherine Bridges
- 01 Jul 2024
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Rising artist Paloma Contreras Lomas, whose works have recently been showcased at the Independent Art Fair and CARA in New York, is making waves in the contemporary art scene. Born in 1991, Contreras Lomas has developed a rich and multifaceted practice that she often describes as “Baroque.” As a former member of the acclaimed Biquini Wax EPS artist-run space, she is regarded as one of the most significant voices in Mexican contemporary art. Her diverse body of work spans film, writing, drawing, performance, sculpture, and painting, earning her increasing attention from the U.S. art world.
In May of this year, Galería Agustina Ferreyra and Pequod Co. jointly presented recent paintings by Contreras Lomas at the Independent Art Fair in New York. Her paintings, which blend folkloric and comic elements, feature monstrous entities alongside reinterpretations of pop culture figures like Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, and Bart Simpson. These works defy categorization, embodying the complexity and richness of her artistic vision.
"The Baroqueness of my work is very Mexican," Contreras Lomas explains. "Mexico is a country with a subtext. In my work, I do not say everything that I want to say." This layered approach to storytelling and meaning is evident in her recent reinterpretation of "Amar a Dios en Tierra de Indios, Es Oficio Maternal," presented in a two-artist show with Austrian artist Ines Doujak at the Center for Art, Research and Alliances (CARA) in New York. The exhibition offered an intergenerational perspective on feminist artistic discourse and a shared interest in subcultures and the grotesque. "Ines has a body of work that’s so extensive and it’s important for me to honor the work of artists who have been working long before me," said Contreras Lomas. "We both have a very similar sense of humor, even though our productions can be very different."
Humor is central to Contreras Lomas's practice. Growing up in a middle-class family, she was fascinated by her father’s books of political cartoons, which used satire to address complex and serious subjects. "Humor is not a way of softening these topics. I’m not being cynical, but it’s a way of being generous as a way of approaching topics like this," she said. "To me, there is something both humorous and perverse in creating soft sculptures that are attractive and touchable but also disturbing."
Contreras Lomas often incorporates autobiographical elements into her work. Most of her pieces—whether films, sculptures, or drawings—originate from personal writing exercises, adding another layer of depth and introspection to her already complex and engaging oeuvre.
